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Maces

From Diablo Wiki

Clubs, hammers, maces and scepters are all shown as "Mace Class" in game. However, they are actually different weapon types and quite different when used for runewords.

Maces are bludgeoning weapons with a single important improvement over the rudimentary club - they are constructed of metal. The simplest mace consists only of a heavy round metal ball end, but many additions to the mace increase its usefulness. Spikes allow it to pierce and tear through flesh, flanges can crack and smash open armour like an egg, and the flail's chain construction lets it gain more momentum before it devastates the enemy. Because of their bludgeoning nature, maces are best used against undead minions, who cannot reverse the effects of broken bones.

Though they are higher up on the hierarchy, maces remain fundamentally the same in use as clubs. As such, players that have invested expertise in the use of the club will have no trouble picking up the mace in combat. This is true of the Barbarian, the master of the mace, due in part to his special Blunt Weapon Mastery skill. Less powerful maces take up a 1x3 slot in the inventory, while larger weapons like flails and mauls take up progressively large spaces.

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In addition to clubs, maces, hammer, scepters and wands are also classified as blunt weapons, and all do 150% damage to the Undead.

All blunt weapons in the game do 150% damage to the undead. This is like saying the item has a +50% damage modifier on it vs. the Undead. This adds 50% of the total non-elemental weapon damage on top.

In Diablo II this is the only way to add damage just to the Undead, while in the Expansion there are affixes that add damage to Undead and others that add it to Demons.

Mace-type weapons do have much less range than other weapons. Legendary Mallets (1 handed mace type) have only range 1, and Thunder Mauls (2 handed mace type) have only a range of 3. Therefore, mace-type items have the second least range of all item types, only surpassed by daggers. To compare, axes have the second greatest range of all item types, and some spears and polearms have the greatest range of 5.

Damage Bonus: This determines how you multiply the item damage by your stats to reach the actual damage. Each 100 points in that stat doubles your weapon's total physical damage. All Maces are 110 Str, while most other melee weapons are 100 Str. This grants Maces 10% more damage bonus from stats.

Item Level: Used in many in-game calculations. Monsters must be of this level to drop the item, and it factors in when you get to gamble for this item type as well.

Weapon Speed: A relative comparison to other weapons of the same type. 0 is the base -10, -20, etc is faster, 10, 20, etc is slower, always in increments of 10. Each 10 is equivalent to an SIAS item. Characters are abbreviated to their first letter, with Am = Amazon and As = Assassin.

Range: Goes from 1 (least) to 5 (most), and is identical for all weapon types. I.E. a 3 sword = a 3 spear = a 3 hammer.

Numbers in () are values for the D2X Beta that differ from the D2 Stats. Expect further changes and tweaks in the final game. We will list D2X stats in gold where they vary from D2 stats.
* 110 Str means that for every 100 points in strength 110% of the weapon damage is added (compared to 100% in all other cases). Only three items in the game, all blunt weapons, have this bonus damage property.

* All Exceptional items are Clvl 25 required in Diablo II. In the Expansion some are less than 25, but none are more.
** 110 Str means that for every 100 points in strength 110% of the weapon damage is added, or 1.1% per Str point. This gives this item 10% more damage than other comparable items. Only three items in the game, all blunt weapons listed on this page, have this bonus damage property.

* 110 Str means that for every 100 points in strength 110% of the weapon damage is added (compared to 100% in all other cases). Only three items in the game, all blunt weapons, have this bonus damage property.